For real this time! AMERICAN GODS is coming to TV!

From Neil Gaiman himself:  the novel AMERICAN GODS is now in development for television with FreemantleMedia. The official press release says the deal has been finalized, and in television land, that means we’re good to go.

So, all that hubbub about the rumors about HBO not being true (my bad for not double checking the sources) etc. can now be swept away as we have fresh, new information on this very exciting development!

In his online journal/blog, Gaiman says he is “very pleased” with how things are going with FreeMantle so far, much more smoothly than they had been with HBO, which had previously been in the running for producing a series based on the iconic best -seller.

The novel, in which gods who have been mostly neglected for centuries become flesh and blood beings (well sort of) who battle among themselves for power, and in which a mystery of human sacrifice in a small town is investigated and finally solved, is a wonderful read and is well-loved by  Mr. Gaiman’s immense fan base. Like his other fantastical stories, the imagining of them on the big screen (or even the little one) is seen to be a challenging feat to “get right” (some fans really disliked the TV mini-series of NEVERWHERE, for example, a terrific story–which Gaiman later turned into a novel–set in, and beneath, London–Gaiman himself admitted it had its flaws), and so some fans are against film or television adaptations of his work for that very reason.

Gaiman’s own positive take on the development of AMERICAN GODS bodes well.